mercedes benz 240d ?

[CTDMtnGoat]

i found a 1981 mercedes benz 240d for sale today. its a automatic with 340,000 on the clock. the guy wants $1300. i want to go back tomarrow to check it out and drive it. if anyone has any information on these, whats good or bad , what to look for , what will break most often and so on... ... ... i would appretiate it

 

[Dieselnut59]

Transmission is usually the first to go, if automatic. Seems like a decent deal. Mercedes made excellent diesels. My neighbor is giving me a 1987 with the 3 liter 6 cylinder turbodiesel. It needs a little work but can't beat the price!

My mother used to have a similar car and got 30+ miles per gallon.

 

[SWiller]

very solid cars! But there is a few common prob's make sure all the doors unlock with the key in the drivers door, since they are vacuum actuated and sometimes leak. but also not a big deal if you just want it for the mpg. And rear CV boots usually need to be done.



Best of luck.

 

[CTDMtnGoat]

thanks fellas , i went and checked it out bearing those things in mind. it was a good looking car , some cancer in the usual places, motor looked and sounded solid. but was it ever weak! i didnt feel like i could merge onto the interstate. the transmission was the problem , it kept bouncing gears and just didnt feel right . so ... ill keep looking , thanks again for the replys

 

[06 mega]

I have a 99 e300td the 98 or the 99 are good ones to look fore lots of power and get 30to34mpg with it .

 

[WDixon27]

the only way to get a 240 and not be a traffic hazzard is to get a stick, the auto sucks maybe 20 mph off the top speed, you'd be running it so hard just to not get run over on the interstate it would eat up any fuel savings sucking oil out of the cranksase, 340k is getting real close to a rebuild and 240s don't run sleaves like the 300s so you need a set of expensive pistons

 

[Tractorat]

My son-in-law is a master diesel mechanic for Mercedes. He has an early 80's 240d that he works on. And yes, he's found it quite expensive to get parts for. The good news though, is that you can get brand new OEM parts for that car. They will ship them to you from Germany.